Thursday, 20 May 2010

Madrigal boy bought me this a while ago (he will make an appearance I promise, but he's quietly welshing on our deal and reading a HUGE library books so he's a bit behind) and I wasn't sure about it because, frankly, the title scared me a bit. I don't want nightmares when I select a bedtime book. However I'm a big fan of good short stories (Raymond Carver and the like) and this was great. It's the type of book that makes you want to start writing straight away, but you won't be able to write as well as he can. I tried. I'll definitely be finding out more about him, and I was especially excited to discover he is part of the McSweenies clan which is a badge of honour to wear with pride. Get the book, and read it, right now. Go. I'm not writing any more so off you pop...

Friday, 23 April 2010

This was a great book. I have Lee-Milne's full diaries for that era knocking about on the shelves (unread, naturally) but now I wish I hadn't as I have a sneaky suspicion that all the good bits are in this tiny tome. My particular favourite was the section when a particular country house owner offered their house to the National Trust before commenting how she thought the Nazi's actually had the right idea. Ho hum.

It certainly spurred me on to actually visit some of these homes as to read about their last owners and the circumstances under which they were donated adds a poignancy which comes from knowing that the War had impoverished the upper classes and ended an era of luxury. Elder sons were also scarce leaving distraught parents with no heir and so in their grief they choose to leave their estate, their family history, to the National Trust, to be absorbed into the national consciousness and become a monument instead of a loved family home. Recommended.

Now, I'm a massive fan of public libraries. I feel it's an amazing privilege to have a service whereby we can borrow books for free. We can educate ourselves for free. We can entertain ourselves for free. We can try before we buy. What's not to like?

TO the end of furthering the cause of public libraries I decided not to put an online seller link in under any of the books we mention as I'd much rather people borrowed the books from their library. If we don't use these services then Councils will take them away - so use your public libraries people, they're great. And free. And warm. And did I mention they're free?

Now, if I love libraries so much then why, you may ask, do we have so many unread books on our shelves? That is a valid question my friend, and one which I believe I can answer. We (well, definitely me) are idiots. We buy new books, second hand books, we are given books, books multiply under our very eyes. And I still have the maximum number of books i can from the library each week. So, if you don't buy loads of new books at once, then hopefully you won't have to follow in our footsteps and be forced to write a blog about your reading habits in order to force yourself to read everything you own!

Ta-da! The first book of the blog - I was determined to beat Madrigal Boy to it - is by Nov(b)elist Doris Lessing and was her first novel. I enjoyed it very much. The heat, the dust, the conflicting emotions of the characters were all evocatively described and it was a great read. By chance I was reading it at the time of Pierre Terreblanche's murder, and it was interesting to see how racial tensions were portrayed in fiction compared to the stark reporting of the recent killing.

The miscommunication in the book was heartbreaking, and I couldn't help but feel for the main characters who seemed to sink deeper into inevitable disaster when a simple word of comfort from the other could potentially have saved them. Background characters were also interesting, and by the end the social and institutional divides were so blurred a tragic ending seemed inevitable. It was certainly a great read, even better would be to read it in the scorching sunshine, and I look forward to reading more of her work soon (considering we have about 6 of her novels, unread, on the shelves I'm sure they'll be mentioned in this blog).

Wednesday, 17 March 2010

One day, Allotment Cat and Madrigal Boy were looking at all the books they owned. They realised they were shameful bibliophiles and hadn't read half of the books they owned. To remedy this they set up some rules:1) They will catalogue all the books they own2) They will read all the unread books they own3) They may buy books in the meantime, but cannot read newly purchased books until the existing ones have been read by at least one of them4) Library books and book club books are allowed, but must be read along with an existing book, and are not to be mentioned on the blog.